In chapter 10, the children take their air rifles outside to shoot and Atticus encourages them to aim at tin cans or blue jays. Atticus then tells Scout and Jem that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. When Scout asks Miss Maudie why Atticus said it was a sin to kill a mockingbird, Maudie tells her,
Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird (Lee, 93).
Essentially, mockingbirds are peaceful, defenseless birds that do not harm anyone and only spread joy, which is why people should protect them and refrain from harming them. In the novel, mockingbirds symbolically represent vulnerable, innocent individuals like Tom Robinson and Arthur "Boo" Radley, who become the unfortunate victims of the town's prejudice. Later on, Scout metaphorically applies Atticus's comments regarding mockingbirds to Boo Radley's situation after Bob Ewell's vicious attack. She likens Boo Radley to an innocent, defenseless mockingbird and demonstrates her maturity and integrity by agreeing with Sheriff Tate's decision to not tell the town about Boo's heroics in order to protect him.
The answer to this question can be found in Chapter 10, when Scout becomes ever-aware of her father's increased age and asks Miss Maudie about the one thing that she has been told by Atticus it is a sin to do - to kill a mockingbird. Miss Maudie responds as follows:
"Your father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't next in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
They then go on to discuss the neighbourhood and the age of its inhabitants, and this allows Scout to talk to Miss Maudie about her concerns about her father's "old age" from her perspective. Of course, when thinking about the mocking bird in this excellent story, it is important that you think about how it operates symbolically - that is, how it stands for something beyond itself rather than just a literal mockingbird. Therein lies the genius of the title.
Atticus tells the children they're not to kill mockingbirds because doing so is a sin. Explain Atticus' logic.
Atticus tells his children it is a sin to kill a mockingbird:
Atticus tells the children that it is a sin To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout reflects that it is the only time that she ever hears Atticus say it is a sin to do something. He explains that mockingbirds make music. They do not eat up gardens or nest in corncribs. They merely sing for others to enjoy.
He is trying to make a point. A mockingbird is innocent, small and helpless. This is why Atticus points out that it is sin to kill a mockingbird. His comment is in relation to the title of the novel. The point the...
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author is making is that there are people who are innocent, small and helpless. The people should protect the innocent people.
The author is referring to Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. While many people judge Tom by the color of his skin, Atticus defends Tom in much the same way he defends a mockingbird. Atticus also insists that the children leave Boo Radley alone. Atticus takes up for those who are helpless and innocent. When he refers to the mockingbird, he is making an analogy that shows how Tom Robinson is innocent. Likewise, Atticus teaches his children to respect the mockingbirds of the world. Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are two innocent mockingbirds. The people of Maycomb have destroyed both Tom and Boo. Atticus will not have his children to do likewise.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus tells his children they're not to kill mockingbirds because doing so is a sin. How does Miss Maudie explain Atticus's reasoning to Scout?
Scout says that she was used to listening to her father's elevated style of speaking, but many times she doesn't understand him. For example, when Atticus tells Scout the legal definition of rape is "carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent," she responds by asking why Calpurnia wouldn't answer her if that is all it was. Clearly, Scout might be used to hearing her father talk with his legal jargon, but she doesn't understand it. Thus, when Atticus tells the children not to use their rifles on mockingbirds because it's a sin, she understands the words, but she doesn't understand the profound meaning behind them. Therefore, Miss Maudie expounds on the subject later when she and Scout are talking together. Miss Maudie says the following:
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (90).
Miss Maudie gives Scout the literal and symbolic meaning behind Atticus's advice. Because Maudie is a good person and a trusted friend, Scout listens to her with great attention. Miss Maudie's clarification of what Atticus says helps to solidify the theme and title of the book. Scout understands this explanation a little bit better because Maudie gives her specific details behind the saying. Maudie's clarification is used later as Scout applies it to Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Neither man did anything to hurt anyone else, but they were treated with disrespect and hatefulness.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus tells his children they're not to kill mockingbirds because doing so is a sin. How does Miss Maudie explain Atticus's reasoning to Scout?
In Chapter 10 of "To Kill a Mockingbird,"Mis Maudie tells the children,
Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.
Of course, this passage is significant in its symbolism. Tom Robinson, the mockingbird of the town, is kind and innocent. He does not bother anyone; he only helps the Ewell girl out of human charity. Thus, the sin that the Ewells and the townspeople commit is in their distorted perception that Tom has crossed a civil line. A man of his word and moral conscience, Atticus recognizes this sin and feels compelled to defend Tom because the moral rules supercede any man-made rule.
How does Miss Maudie explain Atticus Finch's statement that "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
When he gives them air rifles for Christmas, Atticus Finch reminds Scout and Jem that while they may "shoot all the bluejays they want," they must remember that "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Scout puzzles over this statement, and as she is wont to do, takes her perplexity to her neighbour, Miss Maudie Atkinson. Miss Maudie explains that mockingbirds do no harm to any other living thing: It is their pleasure to "do one thing but sing their hearts out for us." Thus, author Harper Lee "do one thing but sing their hearts out for us." Thus, author Harper Lee reveals the primary symbol and motif of her novel. If To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of innocents destroyed, chief among them the Afro-American laborer,Tom Robinson, then the mockingbird and all it implies drives the moral point.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, why does Miss Maudie say that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird?
In Chapter 10, Scout and Jem are shooting their air rifles and Atticus tells them that they can shoot all the bluejays they want, but it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Scout mentions that it was the first time she ever heard her father say that it was a sin to do something and decides to ask Miss Maudie about it. Miss Maudie tells Scout that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing except make beautiful music for people to enjoy. She also comments that mockingbirds do not eat up people's gardens or nest in corncribs, and only "sing their hearts out for us" (Lee 119). Mockingbirds are essentially innocent beings that do not deserve to be shot or harmed. Throughout the novel, various characters, like Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, are represented as symbolic "mockingbirds" because they cause no harm to anyone. When Tom Robinson is wrongfully convicted of raping and assaulting Mayella Ewell, it is metaphorically comparable to a person killing a mockingbird. Tom Robinson was an innocent man who was unfairly harmed which demonstrates that Atticus' lesson can apply to respecting any innocent being, and not just mockingbirds.